The Deal (11 page)

“Jamie, are you actually speechless? You don't have some amazing advice for little Chicken Tikka?” I mock gasp and raise my hands to my mouth, stifling a chuckle at the sight of his pout and puppy dog eyes from my teasing. I shrug and wink at him before mimicking him and cross my arms over my chest. He leans back in my cubicle and clears
his throat. I love this part!

“Dear Nicole, it would seem that fights and arguments are only natural in a married relationship; it keeps the relationship healthy. As for leaving him asleep to be late this morning, you may need to adjust your attitude towards his job. His profession is very important and something that he loves. It would be on your shoulders should he ever be suspended or dismissed for constantly being late – as you have penned in past 'letters',” Jamie lifts his arms to demonstrate the quotation marks before returning to his former pose. “Now my advice? Go home tonight, cook him a top notch meal and then shag the shit out of him.”

A laugh escapes my lips and I lean forward to slap his leg for being so crude but Jamie just smirks at me and gives me a cheeky grin. “You are so bad, Jaim,” I state, “But you're right, I need to be more considerate towards him and actually wake the lazy sod up in the mornings. He loves his pupils to death and it would definitely be on my shoulders if he was sacked,” I shudder to think about how he would cope if he couldn't teach his beloved pupils every day, “But the meal will have to wait, we are all off to the pub tonight, if you fancy popping along too?”

I can see Jamie debating it over in his pretty little head. He only knows a hand full of people in Wales, seeing as he's from Devon, and those people are work colleagues. He has yet to meet Craig and the gang, despite knowing most things about them. I would love it if he integrated into our group or at least could put faces to names of my friends he always hears me talk about. I turn towards my inbox while waiting for an answer from Jamie and just as I open an email from a client, Jamie gives me a 'yes' and a big grin.

“Yay, Jamie! You finally get to meet the gang.” I beam, patting his leg, “Meet me here after work and you can follow me to mine and then you can drive us to the pub.” I watch him roll his eyes at my bossiness and jump from the desk, before taking the stance of a soldier

“Yes, Sir.” He salutes me, “It will be nice to see what your friends are actually like, with you bitching about them every day.” He winks and I shake my head. I love coming to work, and I love knowing Jamie. He teases me relentlessly but that's why I like talking to him – he reminds me of Rob a lot and I reckon those two will get on great.

“Shut your face, dickhead and piss off, some of us have important work to do.” I poke my tongue out and swivel my chair around so my back is to Jamie and is facing my laptop. I hear his laugh before hearing him walk across the room to his own cubicle.

“See you later, Chicken Tikka,” he shouts back and all I do is flick him my middle finger.

Chapter Ten

Craig

Nic left me in bed this morning. She didn't even bother to wake me up to make sure I got my arse out of bed for work. No, she made both Rob and Kelsie send me a text to wake me up and to tell my arse to get to the pub after work. Having a pint has been on my mind all day. The kids knew something was up when I all but stormed into the room and snapped at them to shut up and get on with their coursework. Yeah, they knew, and thank God they didn't test me today. Mr McGuire, the head, was sympathetic when I told him my nan was rushed into hospital. How's that for a freaking lie? The guilt piled up when he told me that if I needed a few days I could take them and he could get a substitute in. I let him know that wasn't necessary.  All day I've been replaying last night and this morning in my head and I grit my teeth at Nic just leaving me. Leaving me to be late and then I shake my head at the thought that I am twenty-two and I should be taking more responsibility in my life. I should be getting my lazy arse out of bed without the help of Nic every day!

Staying behind after work for a meeting, I all but rush home, change and make my way to the pub. Seeing the sight of it in my vision, I breathe a sigh of relief to know that Nic can't run out on me now, as both Rob and Kelsie are in our company. I feel the nerves kick in as I contemplate over what to say to Rob. I know Kelsie would never betray Nic or myself and tell him our secret, but now that Kelsie knows, it's definitely changed everything. I know she'll be supportive, God, she knows I love Nic with everything, but with Rob knowing, I know those two will scheme a plan to make us official after our deal is up. I've been told so many times that Nic does love me, that she always has, but to me? I think she tolerates me because we have to do this in order to get the money. That is not love in my eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I push the door open and stroll to our usual spot only to stop when I see Nic sat next to some guy, her hand reaching out to slap his arm and giggles escaping her mouth. I see red. Like hot, molten lava red. I make a fist, telling myself not to storm over there, drag her off the chair and take her home. She's not spoken to me all day then some dickhead comes along and she’s all laughs and smiles. Hell to the motherfucking no.

Who the fuck is this guy?

I stand still, glaring holes into the back of his head until I see that Rob has noticed me.  Humour dances across his features as he nudges Kelsie before calling me over with a flick of his hand. I watch Nic look back and a spot of remorse floods her. I choose to ignore that and tensely smile at her, unclenching my fist. She'll get my wrath at home later on when I punish her, but for now, I’ll pretend that I'm peachy perfect with her, mess her pretty little head up a bit. I lift my hand and imitate a drink, to which she returns a small smile and nods at me, all the while the guy who is sat next to her is smirking at our interaction and leaning his arm over the back of her chair, like he's claiming her. I just want to go over there and punch the shitting smirk from his face.

I head towards the bar and Rob perches next to me and gives my shoulder a slap before chuckling under his breath. I glare at him and see no humour in some fucking douchebag acting like Nic is his. Fuck that, she is mine and always will be. I turn away and order mine and Nic's usual – a glass of wine and a beer. I stay in silence until our drinks arrive and I take a sip before asking Rob who the hell that dude is. I know Nic would have told me, hell, I wonder why she hasn't. Now I know why she's kept him a secret.

I take a glance back to our table and Kelsie gives me a warm smile and subtly shakes her head to reassure me that it's nothing. I shrug and turn back to the bar, awaiting Rob's answer to
who
that guy is and how we can get him away from our table so I can have a serious conversation with my best friends about this fucking deal which is eating me up inside. He needs to know!

“He's called Jamie, works with Nic, been there a few weeks now,” Rob explains, but that still doesn’t excuse why she hasn’t told me just how close they seem to be or furthermore, just who he is. Is it because she wants us all to know him so that when we are 'over' she has someone to fall back on to when the deal is over and we will let him in with open arms? Or am I just being overly jealous and paranoid and he really is just a friend she has taken under her wing? I choke back the lump in my throat and stare into my beer glass. I need to calm down before I go over there and figure what this Jamie is to her. Work friend or if there is anything more. . .

“Dude, stop being jealous over every guy she talks to. Jamie is harmless.” He begins, picking up his and Kelsie's drink, nodding his head over to the table, “You know what Nic is like, she befriends the strays.”

I splutter out a deep chuckle, which resonates around the pub and the girls and Jamie whip their heads back to us. Confusion is spread across their faces but I give Nic a wink and place her wine down before taking the seat next to her. She turns to face me, offering me a sad smile but I lean forward, cup the back of her head and plant a hard kiss on her lips. I feel her melt against me and shift closer, before feeling her arms wrap around my neck so she can deepen the kiss. I run my tongue along her bottom lip, and she opens her mouth so I can dip inside of her. She lets out a small moan and that is when I hear Kelsie's loud laugh and Rob telling us to 'go to the bathroom.' I flick him my middle finger, placing one final kiss upon Nic's lip and I smirk, seeing just how affected she is from one kiss and how swollen her lips are. I ignore everyone else around us and find Nic's eyes, which flash with arousal and a touch of shame, but I run a finger down her cheek and shake my head at her.

“We need to talk later.” I whisper into her lips, so it's just her that hears. Her eyes drop and she nods. She knows exactly what this talk is going to entail but what she doesn't know is how the night is going to end, with me inside her, pushing her to the limit, making her mine – no one else’s. She retreats back into her own comfort zone, and shyly runs a hand through her hair, patting down the flyaways. I turn to look at Rob, who is silently laughing to himself and I smirk at him and lift an eyebrow. He knows me inside out and he knows damn well why I just did that. . . marking my territory and showing Jamie that he is definitely not having Nic, nor will he ever get the chance to. I lift my pint up to my lips and turn my body to face Nic's. She's highly embarrassed but I can see a reminiscence of a smile on her lips while she stares at her wine glass.

I glance over to see Jamie watching her and I lean over Nic's body, holding out my hand so he can stop focusing on my wife and focus on her husband instead. Best to get the introduction out the way before taking my girl home and leaving him with Kelsie and Rob.

“All right, I'm Craig.” I grunt out. He takes my hand and clasps it tightly, obviously showing me just how 'tough' he is. I even see him flex his biceps and I want to laugh at how pathetic it is.

Two can play that game, mate!

“I'm Jamie.” He simply replies back. I nod my head and offer him a grin, which he mimics. I shake his hand and retrieve it back, placing my arm across the back of Nic's chair, where my fingers begin to play with her hair. I know she loves me doing this and it proves my point when she briefly closes her eyes and lets out a relaxed sigh, moving further into my body and my hand.

My burning gaze is ripped from Jamie when Rob claps his hands together and announces that now we all know each other, it's time to plan Saturday night. A grin appears on Nic's face as she and Kelsie animatedly begin to talk about what they are wearing. I have one ear on their conversation because I want to know what Nic is going to wear and another on the guy's conversation, which includes what pre-drink plans are and where we are going. I assume that Rob has invited the douche to this night out, but sure, I can deal with that, I just won't leave Nic's side all night.

“Nic and I were saying pre-drinks around ours? Get some drinking games on the go, get relatively pissed then head out to that new club – ZoHoKa?” Upon hearing the name, Nic and Kelsie both turn towards me with blinding smiles and they giggle over the fact that we are actually going to that club. It hasn't been open long, but everyone we know has experienced it and it's been getting great reviews. Because we are all boring, we haven’t been yet, but what better time than now?

“Sounds great, mate! Will be nice to experience the Welsh way of partying.” Jamie speaks up and Kelsie lets him know that no one can party like the Welsh. “Yeah, I've heard the Welsh ladies are quite the attraction.” He glances at Nic and Kelsie, winking at them both. I feel the tic in my jaw. I’m finding it very hard to keep my cool when he is so blatantly expressing his feeling for Nic in front of me. You don't fucking do that in front of their husband. Fuck, you don't do it when you know they are taken. And he is taking the piss.

“Damn right we are. Who else will you find round the back alley on their knees at three in the morning? Bet you don't see that in Devon.” Nic butts in, obviously trying to keep the tension at bay and Rob laughs before leaning across the table giving Nic a high-five.

“You got it right, babe.” He agrees, earning himself a push from Kelsie. I raise my eyebrow at her and she shrugs her shoulders before dramatically sighing and agreeing with the rest of us. She can't say much, that story was her and Rob last year. Matt hasn't let them live it down.

While Kelsie has Jamie's attention once again about clubbing in Wales, Rob's attention has gone and he seems to be replying to a text on his phone or playing Angry Birds – yes, he is slightly obsessed with that fucking game. With no attention on us, I shift Nic's chair closer to mine, so she's further away from the douchebag and wrap my arms around her shoulders, so her back is against my chest. She moves her face to the side and I give her cheek a kiss. Okay, normally we are touchy feely, everyone knows it, but I’m sure Robe and Kelsie know that I am marking my ground. And too damn right I am.

Placing a kiss on my hand, Nic moves around on her chair to face me, and she leans forward, only leaving a gap between us and places her hands on my cheeks. This is her way of wanting some privacy between us, to block out the guys from our conversation.

“Craig, I am so sorry about everything last night, and this morning,” she whispers and I can see she is letting her guard down to me again. Nic doesn’t like to be emotional or show vulnerability to me but I love it, it means she's opening up to me, trusting me enough to see her this way and it makes me love her that bit more. I move both arms around her waist and pull her forward and onto my lap so we have more privacy plus I just want to be able to touch her, have my hands on any part of her body and know that she is mine. I make sure her back is to Rob and Kelsie and she wraps one arm around my neck, the other holding my hand.